Objective: To investigate the incidence, severity, susceptibility sites of gingival papillary recession (GPR) in adults after orthodontic treatment and the clinical impact of tooth extraction on GPR.
Methods: A total of 82 adult patients were recruited and then divided into extraction and non-extraction groups according to whether the orthodontic teeth were extracted (teeth that needed to be extracted when performing orthodontic treatment). The gingival conditions of the two groups of patients before and after treatment were recorded using intraoral photos, and the incidence, severity and predilection sites of GPR after correction were investigated.
Results: The results indicated that GPR occurred in 29 patients after correction, with an incidence rate of 35.4%. A total of 1648 gingival papillae were recorded among the 82 patients after correction, of which 67 exhibited atrophy, with an incidence of 4.1%. All occurrences of GPR were classified as papilla presence index 2 (PPI 2) (mild). The condition is most likely to occur in the anterior tooth area, especially in the lower incisor area. The results indicated that the incidence of GPR was substantially higher in the extraction group than in the non-extraction group, with the difference statistically significant.
Conclusion: Following orthodontic treatment, adult patients will have a certain proportion of mild GPR, which is more common in the anterior tooth area, especially the lower anterior tooth area.
Keywords: Alveolar bone; Gingival papilla; Gingival papilla recession; Orthodontic treatment; Tooth extraction.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.